In the printing industry, keeping track of individual paper, bound books such as magazines and catalogs, bundles, pallets, and packages is difficult, time consuming and expensive. Optical bar code systems have been utilized in the printing industry; however, this technology operates at short range and requires line of sight detection. Magnetic systems also have been utilized in the printing industry; however, this technology requires contact with magnetic media and a prescribed orientation of the magnetic material. Active RF tag technology is bulky requiring a battery or antenna to power the device and a chip for intelligence and data storage, both assembled together and encased in a material such as plastic. The size and expense of these active RF tags limit their use.